


House of Memories

by firelord_zutara



Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Angry Steve, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Canonical Character Death, Happy Ending, Howard Stark's A+ Parenting, Hurt Tony, Hurt Tony Stark, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, M/M, Natasha Is a Good Bro, Past Child Abuse, Past Peggy Carter/Steve Rogers, Peggy Carter as Tony's mom, Sad Tony, Sad Tony Stark, Steve Jumps to Conclusions, Steve Rogers & Natasha Romanov Friendship, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Tony Stark Needs a Hug
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-31
Updated: 2017-05-15
Packaged: 2018-05-17 12:13:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,086
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5869030
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/firelord_zutara/pseuds/firelord_zutara
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In which Peggy was Tony's biological mother, Tony constantly talks about Peggy around the other Avengers, and Steve does not take this well.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

It wasn’t something Peggy regretted, but she regretted how it happened.

She regretted that her job wouldn’t let her be with her little boy the way a parent should be there for their child. She regretted the times that the boy was brought into–where having a child out of wedlock would most likely damage her position in the career she’d fought so hard for. She regretted that she took out her grief with sex and alcohol, instead of in a more positive fashion. She regretted that it was with _Howard_ of all people, but it was just one of those nights, and there were very few things to do on one of those nights.

So they fell into bed together. Just once, only once, but once was enough.

And while she knew she _could_ keep the baby, she knew it wasn’t right. With no husband and nowhere near the funds that Howard had, she knew the child wouldn’t grow up right, wouldn’t grow up properly.

And perhaps that was a mistake on her part–she knew Howard, knew him as one friend knew another friend, but how could she have known who the man was behind closed doors?

At least the boy had Jarvis. Thank God for Jarvis. 

But, when she held her child in her arms for the first time, staring into his soft brown eyes, how could she have felt regret?

—-

Howard refuses at first. She isn’t surprised. 

“Why can’t you take care of the damn baby? You’re the mother!”

 _And you’re the father_ Peggy doesn’t say, biting her tongue as she took in a stiff breath. “Yes, I know that Howard, but what am I supposed to do when I’m halfway across the country?”

“You don’t think I–?!”

“ _Of course_ I know that you travel, Howard, but where as I have no nanny, you have the money to hire fifty. You have Maria, and as I’ve already talked to her, I know that–”

“You talked to _my fiance_ without–”

“–she is more than happy to raise the child…she’s always wanted one, and as you know…”

At that, Howard’s jaw clamps shut as he stares at the ground. Peggy almost regrets bringing up Maria’s infertility, but she knows she had to. She knows that somehow, this is the right thing to do.

At least she hopes.

“He’s going to be your child too,” Peggy says, softer this time. “And I know it’s not ideal, but I really do feel it would be better than him growing up in a broken home.”

Little does she know.

“…You gotta let me think about it, Peggy. I know Maria and I have been together for only months, but we’re getting married, and this is something we need to think about together.”

Peggy nods. It’s only fair.

—–

Peggy gives birth a month later. Maria was kept out of the public eye enough that she can pass the baby off as hers.

—–

Peggy is busy, away on work more than she was home, and she really feels that it was the right decision. Tony is four now, already famous for building his own circuit board.

Peggy doesn’t know what she would have done with a child like that. She prays that Howard knows what he was doing, and that he knows how to treat the child well. 

She knows, of course, that he was barely home anyway, and if he was, he was constantly buried in his work, in his company. Maria was better, she knew, taking Tony to Central Park for picnics, taking him out to the movies when she could. Jarvis was there the most, however, and she wondered if Jarvis just would’ve taken the kid in himself, if she asked.

But how could she have asked that of her friend? Of the boy’s father, sure, but not of her friend.

It pained her, it really did, but she knew she couldn’t offer her son what he needed. 

She visits, of course, as often as she can (not often enough). It makes her heart ache, at how happy he is to see her, how bright his face lights up when she walks through the door. She tells him stories, mostly. His favorites are about Captain America. 

That pains her, too, but it was more of a dull roar, now.

—-

When Tony is eleven, Peggy tries to take him back.

“He’s _afraid_ of you, Howard, I don’t know what the fuck you did, but–”

“ _I haven’t done anything!_ ” Howard screams, his bottle of whiskey dropping to the ground and splattering with a crash, the amber liquid bleeding across the wooden floor. 

Peggy narrows her eyes, stepping away from the alcohol crawling towards her. Howard, however, isn’t done. “Do you know what a PR nightmare that’s going to be? The kid’s already famous, and if they found out Maria wasn’t his mom…do you know what a clusterfuck that would be? The mess I would have to clean up?”

Peggy takes in a sharp breath, fists shaking at her sides. “Is that all this is about to you? You and your goddamn image? Your fucking company?” 

At that, Howard says nothing, he simply steps out of the room.

As the tears well up in her eyes, Peggy told herself that it would be alright, that Tony would be alright, that her son would be alright. 

—-

At seventeen, Tony’s parents die. It’s Peggy who picks him up at MIT to bring him home, and to the funeral. 

Neither of them say anything on the ride down the highway and into New York, just a stiff, sad silence that cloaks over the two of them.

They ask Tony to speak at the wake. He has few things to say.

Peggy is asked to speak, too, and she tells them she has nothing to say.

—-

Tony is twenty-two and Peggy knows she’s dying. 

Tony’s at her bedside, Jarvis having left already, and she knows she doesn’t have much longer. Cancer is a bitch.

But Tony has to know, he has to. Even if the poor boy…her son…has to sit through his mother’s funeral once more.

He’s at her bedside, telling a story about some SI board members with a strained smile. He stops, frowns, and Peggy realizes she was supposed to laugh. 

 

“I’m sorry Tony, I–”

 

“Aunt Pegs, no, you don’t need to–”

 

“I have to tell you something, before I’m gone.”

His face scrunches up and no, that’s no good. She wants to remember her son as he was when he young and thriving, when he was overjoyed about robots and cars and circuit boards. 

“Don’t say things like that,” he states firmly, eyes narrowed, and Peggy can’t help but smile. 

She doesn’t know how she’s supposed to start this, how to bring this up, so she just comes out with it. “Tony, twenty-two years ago, your father and I had a one night stand.”

Tony frowns in confusion, blinks, and a deeper, more profound type of shock begins to plague it. 

“Aunt Peggy, I don’t know what you think you’re saying, but–”

“I’m saying Maria wasn’t your biological mother…it doesn’t matter, because she was a better mother than I ever was, but what I’m saying is that twenty-two years ago your father and I fell into bed together, and now here we are.

“Tony, I have loved you, I have always loved you, and I _will always_ love you as a mother loves her son.”

She feels herself fading, but a weight is lifted from her chest, a weight that should never have been there in the first place, and now she can sleep peacefully.

—-

Steve had only been living in this century for a few months, but some things were already blatantly clear to him.

Tony Stark was not one of those things.

There were things like cell phones, televisions, computers, iPods, social media–all those things were fine. Simple. Easy. Those things had instruction manuals, could be explained, could be taught. 

Tony Stark was not one of those things.

Tony Stark and Steve Rogers did not have the best start, but throwing a nuke through space and nearly dying really teaches you to let bygones be bygones, to move on, to work together, to get alone.

Well, for the most part.

Steve had his doubts, at first, considering the file he’d read and the tabloids he’d seen, that Tony wouldn’t be a team player. That he’d be rash, hardheaded, bold and blunt.

And Steve was right.

But he was also able to listen when it counted, able to give commands when needed, able to come through for the team when the team needed him most.

So Tony was Tony and it worked, and it was fine, and the team was great.

Until they moved in together.

Growing up in the depression, Steve had never taken anything for granted, and he wasn’t going to do so with Stark’s hospitality. Tony himself would say that it was all Fury (and partly Coulson) that made them all band together for a giant superhero slumber party, but he also knew that Tony was his own person, and SHIELD needed him more than Tony (or any of the Avengers) needed SHIELD, and that he could’ve kicked them out any time he wanted to. But he didn’t.

Once the repairs were done (Tony choosing to do most of the work himself as to provide the city with more construction workers, something Steve really didn’t see coming from Stark even after his stunt with the nuke), and the team each had their own floor, complete with a common room, gym, natatorium, and a pantry more stocked than the grocery stores in Brooklyn circa 1941. And it was great.

Well.

The team got along great, in Steve’s eyes. It was a shaky start, but Natasha and Clint were already more than close, Thor (when he was there) got along with everyone, filling up awkward silences with booming stories of his youth(?) when need be, and Tony and Bruce, of course, were able to bond over science and, well, more science. 

And Steve _did_ get along with the others–Bruce was easy to talk to when he opened up, Clint was more frat boy than professional when it came down to it, and he could trade war stories for espionage experiences with both him and Natasha. 

And then there was Tony. 

And Tony had this thing about Peggy.

Not a _thing_ thing, because really, he did know how much older Peggy would have been than Tony (and, well, Steve too) if she was still alive today, and Steve wasn’t that delusional.

But there was this thing. And despite his best efforts to shove it back into the bottom of his skull, it bothered Steve. Really, really bothered him.

And it was ridiculous, it really was, because Peggy was never his, not really. He’d loved her, of course he did, how could he not? But besides that, Peggy was not a woman to be claimed by _any_ man, whatsoever. And Steve knew that.

So maybe that’s why it bothered him so much. Because the way Tony talked about Peggy, was like Peggy was his, and, well, she wasn’t.

He knew she was like an aunt to him, but he also knew that she wasn’t around much, _married to her job_ as Fury had put it when he’d asked about her family.

“Stark was about as close as family as she had, besides her brother,” Fury had said to him, and Steve had wanted to press for more, but Fury was a busy man (Steve had known that since day one) and it was a borderline personal issue, and Fury wasn’t one to dwell into those.

He did leave Steve with a bit of a briefing on her (not a formal SHIELD file, as he’d done with the rest of the Avengers), mentioning her brother and niece. And that was nice, that was good. She was glad she had them, and she was glad she was able to move on past his death, to continue on with her own life.

But Tony just had to act like he had some sort of claim on her, and.

Well.

It started innocently enough, when Tony had, surprisingly, cooked for them, and lasagna of all things. 

They usually ordered in, or Tony had one of his own personal chefs deliver something, but not that night.

Clint stole a piece before the pasta had even set and cooled, burning his tongue and mouth but swearing black and blue that it was worth it. When everyone had settled in, though, it was Bruce who said, “I honestly was afraid when I heard you were in the kitchen, Tony, but this is great.”

The others nodded in agreement, and Tony chucked, taking a bite of his own slice. “ _Ha ha_ , yes, it’s fucking hilarious. But, no, I only know this recipe because Peggy taught it to me.”

“Peggy taught it to you?” Steve all but blurted out. Natasha raised a brow at him, but Tony simply nodded, smiling slightly. “Yeah, I mean she wasn’t around much but when she was, she always cooked for me considering neither of my parents could cook worth a damn, and Jarvis deserved a break.”

“If you’re offering, Sir…”

“The freshman at NYU will just _looove_ you, J,” Tony singsonged, and the AI shut it. “But no, yeah, the human Jarvis of course. She only knew a few real dishes, but what she did know…it was great.” 

The topic of conversation changed, but Steve couldn’t get it off of his mind, that Peggy was there, there with Tony, and got to spend that time with him that Steve never got. 

_She’s not yours_ , Steve reminded himself, sighing, and standing up to serve himself another slice of lasagna. 

But then it kept happening. Nearly all the time. 

Like game night, which was said (by Coulson) to be a necessary bonding tactic, and when Monopoly was brought over (by Coulson) the first thing Tony said was “Shit, I haven’t played this in years. It was Peggy’s favorite, right next to Jenga.”

“Hey, I don’t think it’s fair to be playing Monopoly with the literal business tycoon,” Clint whined, but shut up once he took an elbow to the side from Natasha. Steve wasn’t listening though, because he could only focus on what Tony had said, and how that was the first thing that came to mind as they started sorting through the tiny houses and fighting over who would be the thimble and who would be the shoe. 

_Not. Yours._

It was everywhere (or at least that’s what it seemed like it to Steve) that Tony would be reminded of Peggy, and he would just have to go out of his way to tell Steve, because that was appropriate, right? Whether it was a dress that Tony thought she would’ve loved, or her favorite bottle of wine, or her favorite place to eat on the Upper East Side–and eventually, it seemingly clicked inside Steve’s rattled head.

Tony was mocking him.

They’d made their truce, sure, but Tony could still be an arrogant asshole, could still get on every last one of Steve’s nerves and tear them apart twice over. And while it _seemed_ that most of Tony’s jokes had no malice–about the ice, about him being old, about him being out of his own time–he was never completely sure.

And it was the same thing with Peggy. 

So when Steve went down to Tony’s lab for the first time, and saw what he had on his desk, he might have acted a bit….rash. 

Sue him. 

Tony was blabbing on about the new Kevlar for his suit, practically bouncing into his lab with Steve trailing behind, urging Jarvis to pull up the specs as he ushered Steve over towards his desk– 

–His desk, which was full of nothing but Peggy. 

Well okay, that wasn’t true. His desk was really a mess of wires, electronics, and hand tools, but the only photographs were those of Peggy. 

And really, that seemed so strange to Steve. None of Rhodey, of Pepper (they were broken up, sure, but from what Steve saw they were still the best of friends), but more so, there were none of his parents. 

A rage curdled inside Steve, one that left a foul taste in his mouth, but he couldn’t help it, he just couldn’t. Tony was still babbling on, when Steve blurted out “Why do you have so many pictures of Peggy?” 

Tony’s words came to a stuttering halt as he turned towards the other man. “Uh, what?” 

Steve pointed bluntly at the picture frames. “On your desk. I mean, were you really that close? I just thought–” 

“You thought?” Tony’s tone was growing increasingly bitter. Steve swallowed, knowing he should backtrack but his irrational anger won him over. 

“I just thought that you barely saw her, but you seem to act like you have some sort of… _claim_ on her, and I just–” 

“What? And you think you do?” 

“No! I’m just saying. She wasn’t that kind of woman, and you just seem to talk about her all the time, and it honestly baffles me.” 

“It baffles you.” Tony deadpanned. 

“Yes. She was…she was going to be my girl, Tony, and I wanted that time with her, I wanted to be with her like that…right after she kissed me for the first time I jumped right into the Valkyrie, and I never got–I never got to be with her. I never got to be her partner. And it just seems that you keep shoving that in my face.” 

By the time Steve had realized he’d hit a nerve, it was too late, and Tony was already marching out of his own lab. 


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry this took so long! I was overcome by school and college and other real world priorities. On top of that this chapter gave me a bit of trouble, so I hope it came out alright! (Also this is going to be longer than the 2 chapters I had originally planned for oops). Hope you guys like it!

After a week of not seeing Tony, Steve really started to worry.

He had worried before, of course. He’d tried to find Tony, to ask him what exactly he’d said that was wrong, and what he could do to make it right. He still considered Tony to be his friend, and he cared for the other man. He didn't want them to be back at square one, when their bickering was more than petty arguing for the sake of arguing, back when they tried to hit each other’s pressure points, and their words contained true malice. 

He’d given himself a day to cool off, because right after Tony had walked out on him, he was mad. Maybe a bit irrationally, but how could he not be a bit enraged? He was trying to talk to Tony, because Tony didn’t own a claim on Peggy, and he was just trying to figure out what exactly their relationship had been like, why Tony and Peggy had been so close to warrant all those pictures.

And sure, he was a bit jealous, of course he was. Even once he was calm, once he realized he’d hurt Tony, the burning ache of jealousy was still lingering in the back of his mind. Because even if he and Peggy didn’t work out, she was still one hell of a woman, and he wanted to work alongside her. Perhaps he would’ve been by her side when SHIELD formed, when they finished destroying the last of the Hydra camps. He would’ve liked that, he really would’ve.

But after a day, once most of the anger had disapparated from his mind, declouding his thoughts, he went to go seek Tony out

What he found was Tony’s workshop locked, and his override codes rejected. He couldn’t say that he was surprised.

But after a week, Steve was starting to worry. 

This had happened before, sure. He and Tony had fought, Tony had locked himself away, but after a day or two, they’d be back on speaking terms, whether they actually apologized or not. Steve had come to realize Tony apologized in his own way, which was usually upgrading Steve’s suit, or building him a weapon that Steve really didn’t need, but he took it with gratitude anyway, because he’d come to realize that’s just how Tony Stark worked. And it was nice. 

But this, this was different. The others had told him that they’d seen Tony in the common floor, whether for food or coffee, or leaving for a meeting. It was just Steve that he was very carefully and purposely avoiding.

And that...hurt Steve more than he thought it would.

He also began to _miss_ Tony, which was something...he hadn’t considered.

Sure, he considered Tony his friend, despite their bickering, but this was a different kind of ache. This was Steve watching a movie with the rest of the Avengers and expecting a snarky quip from Tony over the now dated special effects, or inaccurate science, but when the room remained silent aside from the movie itself, Steve found that it hurt.

He began to miss other things, too. Like Tony, sleep deprived and disheveled, shuffling up from the workshop, muttering equations and algorithms to himself as he poured himself a cup of coffee. He missed mildly shocking Tony when he understood one of his pop culture references, or knew how to operate his phone, or post tweets. 

He even missed the things he once found annoying about Tony. He found himself missing the jokes that used to set him off, whether it be about his age, or years under the ice, or anything else. The time apart made Steve more aware of how the jokes were just a part of Tony. He didn’t mean any real harm, that was just how Tony Stark _worked_. And now, Steve missed having that.

Not to mention it’d only been a week. 

So after a week, Steve found himself awake early in the morning slouched over the kitchen table, staring unseeingly into his cup of tea. He didn’t even look up when Natasha sat herself next to him.

“Okay, what did you do?”

Steve sighed, shooting her a quick glance. Her brow was raised, and she was eyeing him carefully. “I have no idea.”

“I wouldn’t be surprised if you didn't. Tony has a tendency to blow things out of proportion.” 

Steve shook his head. “No, no I definitely did something, I just can’t figure out what.” He paused, looking up again. “Do you know anything about Peggy?”

She frowned slightly. “Not much, except for her contributions to SHIELD. Why? Did Fury not brief you?”

Again, Steve shook his head. “It’s not that. I just,” he sighed, not knowing exactly how to phrase it. Trying to say it out loud made him realize how ridiculous he had been when he’d said all that stuff to Tony. What, he was jealous because Tony had some pictures of Peggy on his desk? 

He wasn’t...he wasn’t _jealous_.

Okay, maybe he was jealous before, but after having a week to think it over, he could see how irrational he’d been acting. 

And right now, he just really missed Tony. He tried not to think too much about that.

“I didn’t realize how close Tony and her were. He has like...all these pictures of her on his desk. And there’s none of his parents, or Rhodey, or anyone. Just...her.”

“And you got jealous.”

He knew Natasha was perceptive, but even that shocked him a little bit. “Are my tells that obvious?” 

She offered him a small smile, one that would have been made of pity, if it had come from anyone else. “It makes sense. We all know she was your girl, your _dame_ ,” she smirked, and Steve rolled his eyes. “But if you’re looking for information on Peggy, you’re asking the wrong person.”

“Who should I ask, Tony?”

Natasha shrugged. “Well I assume that option went out the window when you went into a jealous hissy fit, didn’t it?”

Steve groaned, flopping across the table with his head buried into his arms. This was such a mess, he needed to make things right with Tony. With them like this, everything felt so...off and wrong. This wasn’t like them getting into a silly argument, this _hurt_ Steve, in ways he couldn’t explain...and was somewhat afraid to look into..

He couldn’t just apologize, no, he had to figure out where he went wrong. He had to figure out what Peggy actually _meant_ to Tony. He needed to figure out why his words hurt Tony so deeply, why he was so attached to Peggy. It was the only way to _really_ make things right, it was his only chance of Tony not just brushing off his apology like he always does with people. This was bigger than that, and he needed to figure out why that was. 

Even if it would hurt him, he needed to know more about Peggy _after_ his time.

Maybe…

Steve’s head shot up, now grinning at Natasha, who had moved across the kitchen to make herself a cup of tea. She turned to him, blinking. 

“Fury never gave me an actual file on Peggy, just some basic information. Would there be...something else? Something more classified?”

Her lips curved, a wicked smile forming across her face. “Give me a few days.”

\-----

It turned out, Natasha only needed two days to hack into SHIElD (he knew Tony would have done it within the hour, but again, he was trying not to think about that). It was two more long, agonizing days of going without seeing Tony. Wondering what he was doing, if he was okay, if he was eating, if he was sleeping okay...

If he would ever sort this mess out.

But after two days, Natasha let herself into his room, and presented him with a manilla folder.

She eyed him, clearly hiding something. Steve figured he was about to find out what.

“So this is her file?”

“Everything I could find.”

He nodded absently, flipping open the folder as he began to read through it. One of the first things he saw, however, made his breath catch in his throat. 

“It...it says here that she had a child? But the name was…”

“Redacted.”

That...didn’t make any sense. Not that she had moved on, after him, because that’s what he wanted, he wanted her to be happy. It was one of his last thoughts before his world went dark and cold. That Peggy would be happy.

But if she had moved on, and had a child, why would she have it redacted from her file?

Was it out of wedlock? Peggy was a powerful woman, one who defied the standards of her time, but some things might’ve still be inescapable. Was she ashamed, in her day and age, to have a child without a husband? That felt...unlike her to Steve, but it’s not like he’d ever discussed the thought of children with her. They weren’t even dating, not really. He wanted her to be his girl, sure, but they never went that far, never talked about stuff like that. 

Did Peggy just not want to have a child? Did she give it up for adoption? That seemed possible. She was so married to her job, it was certainly possible she just didn’t feel like she could raise a kid. 

But why would they _redact_ it, if it was adoption? Wedlock, he could see reason for the redaction, but it still didn’t sit right with Steve.

Not to mention the father’s name was redacted, too.

He read and reread the rest of the file, looking for another clue, for _something_ , but the rest was all stuff he already knew, whether it be from his history catch up, or just from knowing Peggy personally.

He turned to Natasha, who was sitting quietly beside him. “If this is redacted...does that mean there’s a version of this file where it’s not redacted?” This might not be what he’d been looking for, necessarily, but he _had_ to know. 

She paused, then gave a small nod. “That’s possible. Probable. If there was, however, Fury would be keeping it under lock and key himself. I doubt there’s even a digital copy out there.”

Steve gave her a determined, hard look. “Well, I guess I know who I need to talk to.”

\------

Saying he _stormed_ into Fury’s office might be putting it harshly. But it might also be the most accurate description. 

He and Natasha had taken the quinjet up to the helicarrier, and with Steve cladded in his uniform the two of them marched through the hallways with purpose. All the agents aboard moved out of their path, clearly getting the message that Captain America was on a _mission_.

Well, all except for one.

Maria glared at the both of them, but Steve didn’t let it phase him. “Agent Hill, I need to speak to Director Fury.”

“He’s a little tied up at the minute.”

“It’s urgent.”

She raised a brow at them, unimpressed. “Doombots invading Time Square urgent? Or….” She gave a sidelong look at the folder Steve was holding, and he was about to question her, to see if _she_ somehow knew anything, but it was Natasha who spoke first.”

“Maria, please. We just need to speak to Fury.”

The agent sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. “I don’t doubt you, but when I say he’s busy, he’s busy.”

Steve couldn’t help himself. “Doombots invading Time Square, busy?”

She stared at him for what felt like hours, her expression unreadable. Eventually, however, she straightened up, and Steve could’ve swore he saw the hint of a smirk run across her face. “No, I suppose not.” She nodded at them once and walked off, leaving her post in front of Fury’s door. 

In retrospect, Steve should’ve stopped to consider what exactly that interaction meant, because really, it was odd. But at that moment, he was so concerned with getting the _answers_ he needed that he didn’t even hesitate to snap the lock on the door and barge into Fury’s office.

“--because I’m asking you, why is that even on the goddamn server? I don’t care if it’s redacted, if shouldn’t be there in the first place, if it can be hacked into so easily. I swear, your security is so flawed it’s a fucking miracle an NYU freshman hopped up on too much Redbull hasn’t gotten access to all of your dirty little secrets. I could’ve hacked it when I was still drinking my milk out of a goddamn sippy cup, I swear I--”

As soon as he caught Steve out of the corner of his eye, he stopped his rant dead halt. Slowly, his eyes travelled from Steve’s own pleading blue ones, down to the folder in his hand.

The smile that crawled across Tony’s face was achingly brittle and sharp to a point and oh god did it _hurt_ , it made Steve’s insides clench and squirm, having such a nasty smile being directed at him. Directed at him by Tony.

“Well, I see you found out my _own_ dirty little secret, Rogers.”

And again, again, it wasn’t until Tony had left the room that the implications of Tony’s words hit him like a punch to the gut. The realization took a firm hold over him, fast and strong and _painful_.

 _Peggy was Tony’s mother_.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you guys liked this chapter!! I'm leaving for London for my study abroad in like a week (as of 8/7/16) so I'll try to finish this up when I can. It WILL get an ending though, I promise!!
> 
> Also if anyone's wondering the title of this fic is from [House of Memories](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KuliCkN2oic) by Panic! At the Disco
> 
> Comments and Kudos are always appreciated, thank you so much for reading!!


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow okay, if anyone is still subscribed and invested in this story, apologizes that this conclusion took 9 months. School took over my life in both good and bad ways, but I've completed my first year and now I have some free time! So inspired by Mother's Day, I felt it was appropriate to finish this. I kinda suck at endings so I hope this is enjoyable to you all!
> 
> (Unbeta'd, all mistakes are mine)

“Tony, wait!”

Steve rushed out of Fury’s office, barely catching Maria Hill’s drawled _I told you he was busy_ as he blew past her. He managed to catch Tony before the man made it to the Helicarrier bay where he had left his suit.

“Tony, please, just let me--”

“Let you explain?” He turned on a heel, meeting Steve’s gaze with impassive eyes and a raised brow. “I don’t know what there is to say. You went searching for information on Peggy and found a redacted file, but when that wasn’t enough for you, you were going to try and rip the information from Fury himself, no? But now you know, and there’s nothing else to say.”

 _There’s everything left to say_ Steve thought, but the words didn’t leave his lips. He heaved a sigh, trying to formulate his thoughts properly through his muddled shock, confusion, and bitter guilt. “I just--first of all, I’m sorry.”

Tony blinked. “You’re sorry?”

“Yes, I’m sorry, I really am. How I acted in your lab, I shouldn’t have gotten so upset. Peggy, she meant so much to me. But she never _belonged_ to me. She never belonged to anyone.”

At that, the other man chuckled, abrupt and stiff. “You’re right, she was her own woman in every sense.”

Steve nodded, jamming his hands into his pockets. He could feel Tony searching his face but he couldn’t bring himself to meet his eyes. “We never even, well, dated. Just a kiss in the heat of it all. I didn’t know it was going to be a one way mission when I jumped onto that plane but I...I figured it might be. And she just meant so much to me. Still does.”

“You don’t have to tell me all of this,” Tony said, his tone unreadable.

“I know, but I need to. I need to explain myself better.” The other man said nothing, and Steve figured it was as good a cue as anything to continue. He’d been feeling such a mix of emotions the past week that it was a struggle to control his words, to not just let everything spill out. But he steadied himself, gathered himself, and trudged on. “It was irrational of me to immediately assume that you were trying to mock me about Peggy. But I didn’t realize what she was to you, and I didn’t know how truly...wrong my words were because of it. So I did my own digging, because I knew I had to fix this.”

“Fix what? Nothing’s wrong, why would anything be wrong?”

Steve bit back a groan, sighing instead. “You wouldn’t talk to me! I’ve been trying to talk to you all week, but you’ve been blocking me out.”

“Had it occurred to you that I perhaps just wanted some space?” His words were soft, but sharp. Steve nodded.

“It did, but I just…” _I missed you unbelievably for just a week of not talking._ “You could’ve told me. If you had told me you needed space I would’ve respected it.”

Tony wrinkled his nose slightly, nodding. “I suppose I could’ve.”

A pause. “I should mention, I’m not sorry I went digging.”

Tony’s head snapped up, almost glaring at Steve. He winced at the ferocity of it. “Perhaps I shouldn’t have, but I’m not sorry I did. She was your mom, and now I know, but I didn’t know at the time. No matter...what we were, she still meant so much to me. I was briefed on what had happened to her, on her legacy with SHIELD, but I didn’t know anything about her personal life. I’m happy that she had you.”

Tony blinked, frowning. Steve prepared himself for a verbal assault, but it never came. The other man just continued to stare at the empty space between them for what felt like hours. When he eventually broke the stiff silence, what he said caught Steve off guard.

“How did you even get the file?”

“Excuse me?”

A small smirk crawled across Tony’s face, but the playfulness didn’t reach his eyes. “You’ve picked up new technology well, but no matter how faulty SHIELD’s security servers are--as they won’t let me install my own systems, of course--there’s no way you could’ve hacked him.”

He grinned weakly. “I uh, had Natasha do it.”

Tony let out a small _humph._ “Figures.”

Steve opened his mouth, and closed it again. He still felt as if he had so much more to say, but when he tried to translate his racing mind and raging heart into words, he found himself at a loss.

“I should be heading back,” Tony muttered. Steve nodded meekly.

“I really am sorry.”

“You just said you weren’t.”

Steve shook his head. “I’m not sorry I found out, but I’m sorry for how it happened. I’m sorry that I hurt you.”

Tony’s gaze lingered on him for another moment, but he didn’t reply. He merely turned, exiting towards the bay. Steve watched him go, watched as the suit molded around him, encasing his lean form. He watched as the red and gold armor lifted from the Helicarrier and streaked across the sky. A small smile involuntarily formed across his face at the beauty of it.

When he reached the quinjet where Natasha was waiting for him she said nothing, her only acknowledgement being a raised brow. At his face however, she clasped his shoulder with a upward quirk of her lips, and they clambered into the jet together.

\------

Five days passed, and Steve hadn’t seen Tony since their meeting on the Helicarrier.

He’d tried once to enter the lab, one day after their conversation, but when he’d found his normal access codes denied he didn’t try to override it, and didn’t try again later. Taking Tony’s earlier advice of giving the man space was probably the best idea. But he couldn’t help himself from trying, just once.

It was five days later, Steve trying his best to focus on his Avengers paperwork and failing miserably, when JARVIS called for him.

“Captain Rogers,” the AI stated, and Steve was immediately on alert. Ever since his and Tony’s...altercation in the lab, JARVIS had been all but ignoring him, responding to his commands and questions only when the questions were crucial--and even then the responses were curt and as short. Steve would’ve never imagined being ignored by an AI could hurt so much, but when that AI belonged to Tony and cared for his wellbeing, it really did pain him.

“Yes, JARVIS? A call to assemble?” Normally the klaxon would’ve been sounded, but he couldn’t imagine what other reason JARVIS had to reach out to him.

“Not quite, Captain. Mr Stark requires your assistance in his lab, immediately."

Steve didn’t even wait for an elaboration on the situation. Instead he bolted through his door, nearly knocking it off his hinges as he made his way toward the stairs and down to the lab. His chest ached with anxious, crippling fear, fear of the worst, as he made his way to the correct floor. He didn’t even have to punch in the override code, the doors opened for him at his presence.

“Tony!” he called, searching frantically across the room. He expected to find the man either trapped under some sort of machinery, cut and bleeding, or both. What he found however was the billionaire perfectly unharmed, dressed not in the usual ratty tank top and jeans he wore in the lab, but in dress pants and an overcoat. Steve blinked at the sight.

“Good, you’re here! We should get going then, want to make it there before dusk.”

Steve blinked again. “I...what? I thought you were hurt.”

The man gestured to himself, cocking his head slightly. “As you can see, I’m fit as a fiddle. I admit perhaps I should’ve had JARVIS clarify that, but it was minor detail.”

Steve met the other man’s gaze, the true meaning behind his words dawning over him. “I would’ve come here either way. No matter what, I would’ve come.”

Tony paused, but only for a moment, before he turned toward the doors. “Are you coming or not?” He called over his shoulder.

“You’re not going to tell me where we’re going, are you?”

Tony laughed, and Steve shook his head, following the genius out of the lab.

\-----

He didn’t know what to expect when Tony had dragged him into one of his grossly expensive cars and began driving them out of the city, but being driven to a small cemetery upstate didn’t even crack his top ten.

When he saw the name of the cemetery at the gates however, the realization hit him fast and hard.

They parked, and walked in silence towards the proper gravestone. Steve had been briefed on the location, but he had never came, didn’t think he could bare to come alone.

But now, now he wasn’t alone.

The stark, sharp letters engraved onto the stone stared back at him. _Carter._ His chest throbbed, but it wasn’t as painful as he imagined it would be. Perhaps it was because he had more closure now. Perhaps it was because of the man beside him.

Slowly, Tony reached into his coat and pulled out a single white lily, and laid it atop the smooth granite. The stood in silence, but it wasn’t tense. Instead it was comforting, soothing.

When Tony eventually spoke his voice was quiet and his tone almost trembling, as if he were struggling to speak at all. Steve listened with rapt attention but his eyes didn’t leave the bolded words in front of him. “I didn’t know she was my mother until right before she passed. She was always there for me, as much as she could be--which was still more than my dad was, but that’s, ah.” He paused, clearing his throat. “Anyways, she was always there for me, but I knew here as my aunt, not my mother. I loved my mother dearly, and when I found out the truth it didn’t cloud the memories of my mother in any way. I loved them both, I _love_ them both. But I wouldn’t be who I am without Peggy, I know that for sure.”

“I don’t think I would be either.” He looked towards Tony to find the man smiling at him, a fantastic smile that managed to reach his eyes. Steve couldn’t help but return the gesture.

“Had she not been related to me by blood, it wouldn’t have changed anything. I loved her when she was my fierce and brilliant Aunt Peggy, and I love her now.”

Carefully, Tony reached out, clasping Steve’s hand between his own two. “I think I’d like to begin again.”

Steve’s heart throbbed within him. “I wouldn’t.”

Tony’s face fell, and Steve rushed to continue. “But, I would like to move forward from here. With you.”

The same fantastic smile Tony had been wearing moments before returned upon his face, eyes glinting. “I think I could try that, yes.”

After a few more moments of mutual silence the two men returned to the car, fingers entwined.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welp, that's that! I hope you all enjoyed it--if you've been here since the story started thank you for sticking with me, I hope the ending wasn't disappointing and was worth the wait. If you've stumbled upon this as a completed work, I hope you enjoyed the story overall! Regardless, thank you all for reading!

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading!! Kudos and comments are very much appreciated!!
> 
>  
> 
> [My tumblr](http://tony-stark-has-a-heart.tumblr.com/)


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